Simone Biles' husband says he's 'the catch'
Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens said he played it cool when the Olympian reached out to him.
(KTLA) -- Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history.
However, when her husband, Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens, first laid eyes on her through a dating app, he had no idea who she was.
Owens made the admission while on the "Pivot" podcast alongside his wife after he was asked by co-host Channing Crowder, "How in the hell did you pull Simone Biles?"
"Really how'd she pull me? That's the question man," Owens said while laughing.
Owens, a St. Louis native, explained that he had only been in Houston for a couple of months to play for the Texans when COVID hit. During that time, he decided to check out the dating app Raya after a friend suggested it to him.
"[I] had been on the app for a couple days and then she pops up. I’m like, ‘Lemme see who this is.' I never really paid attention to gymnastics, so it piqued my curiosity. And so I'm like, ‘OK, I’ll see what’s up.' And I swiped her, and it said we matched."
Owens said he played it cool after Biles had liked a few of his Instagram posts.
"She messaged me on the app like, ‘Hey,’ and I’m like, ‘Man, that’s got to be fake,’” he said. “I didn’t know who she was at the time, but the first thing that I saw was that she just had a bunch of [Instagram] followers. So in my mind, I’m like, ‘OK, she’s got to be good.’”
Co-host Ryan Clark, a former NFL safety himself, gave Owens a look of skepticism as he explained why he didn't know one of the greatest athletes of all time.
"I promise you, when she won the Olympics, I was in college. We didn't have NBC, we didn't have Olympic channels, and we're in camp, late July, early August. So I'm not paying attention," Owens said. "I never would've had a moment to watch."
Biles messaged Owens on a Tuesday, and after texting back and forth, the pair hung out that Friday. The gymnast made a 45-minute drive to Houston from her Texas suburb for their first date, and "the rest is history."
"So you was really the catch," Clark joked.
"I always say the man the catch. I always say we the catch," Owens responded.
Later in the interview, Biles admitted to reaching out to Owens first.
"We matched. I was just the first to message," she said. "I know what I like, and I know what I want."
Owens said they "hit it off instantly" on their first date and laughed the entire night.
The couple got married earlier this year in April at a Houston courthouse. They hosted another wedding celebration in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a few weeks later, PEOPLE reported. Owens had proposed in February 2022.
Their podcast interview -- which dropped on Tuesday, Dec. 19 -- has since gone viral, and Owens is receiving backlash over some of his responses, mainly about him being "the catch" in the relationship.
"You're married to Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, but you think you're the catch," one person wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. That post amassed more than 28,000 likes within two days.
Despite the online criticism, the couple seems unfazed.
On Friday, Dec. 22, Owens shared several photos of Biles and himself, including some from their wedding day, on Instagram with the caption: "Unbothered. Just know we locked in over here."
Biles left a comment saying, "For life."
Also on Friday, the Associated Press named Biles the Female Athlete of the Year for the third time. Owens celebrated her accomplishment, writing the following message via an Instagram Story: "You never cease to amaze me. You deserve it baby!!!!! So proud of you."